often times kids think that they walk into this environment with liabilities. we think it's completely opposite. >> reporter: once the students move on to college they stay in regular contact with their one goal teacher through their first year. the aim is not just to get kids into college but to equip them with the support system they need to finish. >> we've seen 20, 25 years of education reform in the united states. almost all of it has been directed in prek through 12 which has -- so we see that proliferation of charter schools we've seen early childhood interventions work, we've seen human capital providers, we've seen big city mayors like rahm emanuel take over education yet almost none of it has spread to higher education. so our country has begun to get college access right but we see huge dropout rates in college. >> reporter: cynthia barren is a coach with the university of illinois at chicago's principle training program, she has over 40 years of experience in chicago public schools. there's nothing better than the next step after high school and mak